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……

"Your Majesty, according to Dongying's news, after Zheng Zhilong succeeded to the throne, he prepared to crusade against the shogunate in order to establish his authority." Wang Liqian said softly.

"In order to unify Kyushu Island, Yan Siqi has almost exhausted his savings over the years, and now he owes me more than 10 million taels of silver dollars, where did Zheng Zhilong get the money to crusade against the shogunate?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"I don't know for the time being." Wang Liqian said.

"The soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first, I believe that Zheng Zhilong must know this truth, if he really wants to crusade against the shogunate, I can lend him money." Zhu Youxiao said.

"The minister will inform the king of Kyushu's intentions." Wang Liqian nodded.

"After Liu Fu and the others left, although Zheng Zhilong's naval strength was greatly weakened, he could still crush the shogunate for the time being, and only in terms of land strength, he was still far from the shogunate. If he has the ability to crusade against the shogunate, it is better to destroy the shogunate's navy as soon as possible, and then occupy the Ezo land, which can be used by the fact that the Ezo people have a feud with Toei. Zhu Youxiao suggested.

"Your Majesty Shengming!" Wang Liqian said respectfully.

"Zheng Zhilong may not listen to my advice, Ezo Land is a wild land, and he must not be willing to send troops." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty can give the king of Kyushu a holy decree and order the king of Kyushu to act according to His Majesty's wishes." Wang Liqian said.

"Forget it, the generals will not be subject to military orders abroad, not to mention that Zheng Zhilong is only a vassal country, I don't want to interfere too much." Zhu Youxiao said.

……

And Zheng Zhilong is also discussing the crusade against the shogunate at the moment.

"Lord Wang, the crusade against the shogunate must not be hasty, first of all, our army is short of food, and to attack Honshu, it is necessary to mobilize at least 100,000 troops; Secondly, our army's gunpowder reserves were insufficient, and after the abolition of the feudal domain in Kyushu, almost all the daimyo in various places sided with the shogunate, and this battle could take several months, not only would there be problems with food, but even gunpowder we would support for such a long time; In the end, there is a lack of manpower, Kyushu has just experienced a big war, and what the prince has to do is to rest with the people and restore the strength of Kyushu. Zheng Zhifeng suggested.

"Fourth brother, since I succeeded to the throne, many people in Kyushu did not support me, so I need to crusade against the shogunate to establish my authority." Zheng Zhilong said.

"Lord Wang, if the crusade against the shogunate fails, we may not be able to gain a firm foothold in Kyushu." Zheng Zhifeng said.

"How long does the fourth brother think it will take for our army to crusade against the shogunate?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"It will take at least five years, or even longer, and you must first settle down at home." Zheng Zhifeng said.

"Five years is too long, the shogunate is now vigorously developing the navy, and in five years, the shogunate's naval strength will not surpass ours, it is very likely that it will be similar to ours." Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said.

"Lord Wang, I think we can take advantage of the fact that the shogunate sailors are still raising, and our army should strangle them as soon as possible." Zheng Zhiguan suggested.

"I also agree with the third brother's suggestion that the elimination of the shogunate's sailors must not be delayed any longer. Eliminating the shogunate's sailors can allow our army to always take the initiative, and Dongying is surrounded by the sea, and it is necessary to control this sea area to control Dongying. And the elimination of the shogunate's sailors was also a convincing feat for the eldest brother. Zheng Zhifeng agreed.

Zheng Zhilong thought for a while and said, "Third brother, this matter will be handed over to you, and you must wipe out all the navy of the shogunate." ”

"No. Wherever the shogunate's sailors are hiding, I will definitely find them. Zheng Zhiguan said.

The shogunate knew that their navy could not compete with Zheng Zhilong's navy, so they had been avoiding Zheng Zhilong's navy, waiting for the day when they would grow stronger.

……

After Zheng Zhilong's order, Zheng Zhiguan led the navy of Kyushu to search the shogunate's navy everywhere on the sea, seeking a chance to fight a decisive battle, but the shogunate navy was like a mud cow entering the sea.

At this moment, the manufacturing bureau came with a news that made Zhu Youxiao particularly excited, there was a major breakthrough in the production of the Apocalypse Gun, and Wang Zheng had built a machine that could mass-produce the Apocalypse Gun. After Zhu Youxiao heard the news, he immediately went to the Manufacturing Bureau. Being able to manufacture Apocalypse Guns in batches means that the empire will completely distance itself from the steppe nomads, and the threat of the nomads to the Ming Dynasty will be reduced to the lowest point ever.

"Your Majesty, this is the machine designed by the minister, which can produce two barrels at a time, and the scrap rate is extremely low, the minister expects the scrap rate to be about thirty percent, and the time to produce one barrel can be saved by more than ninety percent than before." Wang Zheng pointed to the machine in front of him and said.

"Let me give it a try." Seeing this machine, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but itch his hands.

"No."

Wang Zheng immediately ordered two gun barrels to be placed. After placing the barrel, Wang Zheng said: "Your Majesty only needs to turn the handle hard to draw rifling on the barrel. ”

Zhu Youxiao tried to make two barrels at one time, and the two barrels made by Zhu Youxiao fully met the requirements of the Apocalypse Gun, but the only regret was that he was tired and sweating profusely in order to make these three barrels, and he said with satisfaction: "It's really practical, but it's too laborious, is it possible to use water power?" ”

"Your Majesty! He was considering this, and if he used hydraulic power, he could design a machine that produced three barrels at a time, which would save more manpower and reduce the scrap rate. Wang Zheng said.

"Decree, crown Wang Aiqing as a third-class marquis, and reward 10,000 taels of silver." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" Wang Zheng knelt down and bowed in the tunnel.

"Wang Aiqing, flat!" Zhu Youxiao said happily, "Spread the decree, the manufacturing bureau will pay two more months' wages this year. ”

"Thank you for the manufacturing bureau, Your Majesty Longen!" Wang Zheng knelt down again.

"Flatten, hurry up!" Zhu Youxiao said, "I want to start manufacturing the Apocalypse Gun on a large scale, and strive to equip a division next year." ”

"No."

"Annan, my army is coming, are you ready?" Zhu Youxiao said domineeringly.

……

The Apocalypse gun can be mass-produced, so that Zhu Youxiao for the first time has the idea of directly sending troops to Dongying, the Ming army was equipped with flintlock guns, and the Ming army did not occupy an absolute advantage in firearms, and the shogunate can mobilize the army at one time is said to be more than 500,000, if only 100,000 troops are sent, Zhu Youxiao is really not sure to defeat Dongying's army, and the most difficult thing for Dongying to send troops is logistics supply, Dongying is too far away from the empire, the logistics supply line is too long, all firearms troops, logistics supply is particularly important, not only need food supplies, There is a greater need for ammunition supplies.

(End of chapter)